Related links:

Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus. She was very pretty, and would often brag that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the sea nymphs, the Nereids. They complained to Poseidon, who sent a monster to Cepheus' land. In order to save their country, the king and queen sacrificed their daughter, Andromeda. Just before the monster, named Cetus, ate the princess, Perseus saved her. All five figures are represented in the sky as constellations.

Cassiopeia has a very distinct shape. She looks like a "W" or "M" in the sky, depending on where she is. Some legends say that Cassiopeia was chained into the sky and sometimes hangs upside-down to remind others not to be so boastful.

Cassiopeia is a northern circumpolar constellation, so it can be viewed all year long. It is home to several clusters, or groups of stars. M52 is a large cluster on the western edge.

With a telescope, many distant objects can be spotted. There are a few nebulae within Cassiopeia, including the Bubble Nebula and IC 1805. This nebula is located just to the east of the constellation. Finally, a number of galaxies can be spotted, including NGC 185, which is a small distance south of the "W".

Windows to the Universe Community

News

Opportunities

You might also be interested in:

Cepheus was king of a land called Ethiopia in Greek myth. He had a wife named Cassiopeia and a daughter, Andromeda. Cassiopeia liked to brag about her beauty so much, that she said she and Andromeda were...more

Why would we call nebulae stardust? Because the gas in nebulae is used to make new stars, and dying stars create nebulae from their gas. While stars are made of very hot, dense gas, the gas in nebulae...more

According to a Greek legend, the sea god Poseidon placed the figure of Cassiopeia among the stars. It is said that Cassiopeia has a ridiculous upside-down position to punish her for having been pretentious....more

Many different constellations fill the evening sky in the northern hemisphere. Depending on your location and the season, different constellations can be seen. Northern circumpolar constellations can be...more

Cassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus. She was very pretty, and would often brag that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the sea nymphs, the Nereids. They complained to Poseidon, who sent...more

Draco the dragon is a circumpolar constellation, which means it revolves around the North pole. It can be seen all year round. Draco is only present in the Northern Hemisphere, so those living in the...more

Ursa Minor, also called the Little Dipper, is a circumpolar constellation. This means it never sets in the northern sky. The true figure represented by the stars is the Little Bear. Its counterpart is...more

Black Holes are theoretical objects. A black hole is an object which has such high gravitational pull that not even light can escape. Hence it is black. Which makes it pretty hard to observe directly....more